In a historical moment where the pervasiveness of new digital technologies is transforming the daily experience of individuals and communities, it is necessary to investigate the variable combinations of limits and opportunities generated within educational and socio-cultural contexts.

We live in a world where it is no longer possible to provide a singular and unilateral response to the multiple challenges connected to the digital transition: the exacerbation of inequalities at all levels, along with the ongoing changes in the daily lives of individuals and communities, highlight the need for sustainable and lasting solutions to social and educational fragility. This includes combining attention to human complexity with cutting-edge technological devices (apps, virtual and augmented reality, video games, robotics, etc.) that encourage participation, dialogue, and inclusion.

The aim is to promote the creation of democratic, equitable, and inclusive educational environments, where the educational implications of technologies, interpretive models related to Artificial Intelligence systems, and the redefinition/negotiation of individual and collective identities between offline and online facilitate the building of social ties and supportive networks.

The goal that our Department has set with the Excellence Project Educational and Socio-cultural Changes and Potentials Related to the Digital Transition is to bring academic research increasingly into the lives of communities and individuals.

We intend to make our expertise available not only to deepen the understanding of phenomena such as educational and social inequality, the transformation of individual and collective identities, and the generation and regeneration of solidarity ties but also to promote experiences involving educators, teachers, social cooperators, associations, citizens, children, adolescents, young adults, and parents.

We seek to build with them technological environments, operational tools, and conceptual tools that help them more consciously navigate the multifaceted complexity of their daily lives.

This is a challenging endeavor not only for the territory but also for our Department.

Through this long journey, our Department aspires to become a true International Center of Excellence, promoting innovation in educational, didactic, active citizenship, cultural regeneration, and inclusion practices. This will be achieved by developing intervention models and strategies that combine humanistic research contributions with cutting-edge technological solutions.

The project is structured into three particularly promising and urgent research strands, informed by scientific debate, relevant literature, and key investment areas in European policies for developing inclusive and resilient societies:

• digital transition and the contrast to educational and socio-cultural inequalities;
• digital transition and the formation of individual and collective identities;
• digital transition and the strengthening of social ties.

With the Excellence Project, our Department will develop an innovative research ecosystem through the synergistic work of three infrastructures: a Departmental Research Center, which will explore post-medial developments, focusing on educational and socio-cultural inequalities, identity, and social ties; a Technological and Cultural Hub, which will integrate the Department's humanistic and technological laboratories to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration; some Territorial Operational Centers (services, third-sector entities, and schools) will experiment with innovative models and solutions identified by the Technological and Cultural Hub.

The entire project aims to promote an interdisciplinary and participatory research approach, combining theoretical-conceptual dimensions with methods from action research, research training, and dialogic/multivocal ethnography. This will foster co-construction of pilot studies, citizen involvement, and capacity building for professionals, enabling a deeper understanding of the socio-educational-cultural fabric.

The university and the territory will work together to improve the quality of life for everyone in various educational and learning environments.

CAPTED - Center for Educational Changes and Potentials in the Digital Transition

The CAPTED Center was established as part of the Excellence Project “Educational and Sociocultural Changes and Potentials Related to the Digital Transition” with the aim of exploring the impact of the digital transition from educational and sociocultural perspectives. The Center focuses on three major phenomena: individual and collective identity, inequalities, and social ties.

The ambition is to bring together scholars from different generations, both from Italy and abroad, to contribute to forming a critical, responsible, and supportive scientific community.
 

The technological and humanities laboratories currently active within the Department will be consolidated into a single location, forming a Cultural and Technological Hub. This will promote the development of pilot studies on the project's three strands and facilitate the exchange between research and teaching.

This will enable the development of innovative teaching strategies to combat school dropout and abandonment, interventions for promoting cultural and community welfare (solidarity networks), and continuity with some actions of M.U.S.A. spoke 6 (Open Air Lab for the development of the Bicocca cultural district; Youth Forum and Generations Festival).

The results of pilot studies conducted by the Center, utilizing cutting-edge technologies provided by the Cultural and Technological Hub, will be implemented in selected Territorial Operational Centers (educational and training agencies, schools, third-sector entities) that align with the project's themes. For example, the collaboration network with schools in the Bicocca district provides an interesting context for experimenting with innovative participatory research methodologies on countering inequalities and technologically mediated strategies (using virtual reality, apps, robots, etc.) for regenerating social ties.

The challenge is to integrate advanced technological solutions with inclusive and sustainable educational practices to meet the educational and socio-cultural needs emerging in a society where digital pervasiveness requires continuous adaptation to counteract inequalities and regenerate social bonds.

The activities of the Permanent Seminar are promoted by the Departmental Research Center CAPTED, established as part of the Excellence Project through which the Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa” will, in the coming years, explore the impact of the digital transition on our individual and collective experiences. This transition is giving rise to new social and educational opportunities, but also, simultaneously, to new forms of injustice.

The aim, in particular, is to explore how the rapid technological acceleration we are experiencing profoundly affects three major areas of study and intervention: the contrast of socio-cultural and educational inequalities, the formation of identities, and the strengthening of social ties.

In the coming years, the events of the Permanent Seminar will serve as a tool for both collaboration with international research groups on these topics and internal reflection and development within the Department, with a deliberate focus on engaging students and local stakeholders in the conversation.

The commitment to transforming the Department into an increasingly international hub for research and teaching begins with building relationships and exchanges with partners from around the world.

To this end, one of the key tools being deployed is the enhancement of the Visiting Fellowship Program. Each semester, international scholars and faculty are hosted by the Department to share the latest findings from their research, to develop new projects, to offer guidance and mentorship to PhD students and young researchers, and to deliver lectures and seminars for master’s degree students.
Below is an up-to-date list of the Visiting Fellows who have contributed, and are continuing to contribute, to the growing internationalization of the Department with their presence:

The central governing body is the Steering Committee, established by the Department Council.

The Steering Committee is responsible for planning and coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating periodic processes. It comprises representatives from various departmental bodies and areas involved in the project (Department Director and Deputy Director, Departmental Research Center President, Research Committee President, Departmental QA, Delegates of master's and single-cycle degree programs, Delegate of the three departmental PhD programs, Technological Hub Coordinator, administrative technical coordinator of the entire project with the role of Research Manager, invited members: representatives of bachelor's degree programs.

The Steering Committee reports periodically to the Department Council and proposes interventions and actions, evaluated by the Department Board and the Department Council.

9 april, 9.00 - 18.00
Aula Martini - Edificio Agorà U6, piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

Inauguration day of the Permanent Seminary

27 june, 14.30 - 17.30
Aula Seminari (stanza 4288) - Edificio Agorà U6 (4° piano), piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

A conversation with Ashraf Kagee and Fayez Mahamid on advancements of open science in Palestine and African countries

Tuesday November 19,   09.30 - 16.00 CET
Aula Massa – Edificio Agorà U6, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

Also online (link)

A meeting promoted as part of the Permanent Seminar "Educational and Sociocultural Transformations and Potentials linked to Digital Transition"

January 29, 2025 | 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Aula Massa – Agorà-U6 Building (4th floor), Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

Seminar organized by Prof. Braxton Soderman (University of California Irvine), promoted within the framework of the PhD Program in Education in Contemporary Society.

Feb 4, 2025 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM
Franco Angeli Academy - Viale dell'Innovazione 11, Milano

Presentation of the Book "Trap! Suoni, segni e soggettività nella scena italiana" [Trap! Sounds, signs, and subjectivities in the Italian scene] (Novalogos, 2024), edited by Sebastiano Benasso and Luca Benvenga.

Speakers: Sebastiano Benasso (UNIGE) and Luca Benvenga (UNI PEGASO)
Chairs: Paolo Grassi (UNIMIB) and Maria Elena Ponno (IUAV)
Discussants: Emanuele Belotti (POLIMI), Davide Fant (UNIMIB), Luisa Zecca (UNIMIB)

An event organized as part of the Permanent Seminar "Educational and Socio-Cultural Changes and Opportunities in the Digital Transition" by the CAPTED Research Center

February 27th, 10.00 AM - 17.00 PM
Seminari Room, Agorà U6 Building (4° floor) - Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

* 10.00 - 12.00

  Seminar: Digital humanities and technology black boxes

• Braxton Soderman, Associate Professor in the Department of Film & Media Studies and co-chair of the Humanities Center’s Digital Humanities Exchange (DHX), University of California, Irvine.

• Chair
  Francesca Antonacci, Full Professor in General and Social Pedagogy, University of Milano-Bicocca

• Discussants

  Maresa Bertolo, Researcher, Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano
  Federica Pallavicini, Associate Professor in General Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca

* 15.00 - 17.00  - Research design and international collaborations: case histories and workshop by the Grant Office

  Seminar: From online risks to digital skills and children’s rights: two decades of research and policy on children and digital media in Europe

• Giovanna Mascheroni, Full Professor in the Department of Communication, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - Milan, Italian Team Leader e International Vice Coordinator di EU Kids Online

• Chair
  Stefano Malatesta, Associate Professor in Geography, University of Milano-Bicocca

• Discussants
  Guido Veronese, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca
  Davide Cino, Researcher in General and Social Pedagogy, University of Milano-Bicocca

  Workshop by the Grant Office

• Federica Fumagalli, Direzione Generale Centro Servizi di Scienze della Formazione, University of Milano-Bicocca

March 11, 2025 | 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Room 12, U16 Building - Via Raffaello Giolli 5, Milan
Also online (LINK)

Keynote: Prof. Braxton Soderman, University of California Irvine
Discussant: Prof. Andrea Galimberti and Prof. Paolo Monti, University of Milano-Bicocca
Chair: Prof. Francesca Antonacci, University of Milano-Bicocca

An event organized as part of the Permanent Seminar "Educational and Socio-Cultural Changes and Opportunities in the Digital Transition" by the CAPTED Research Center

March 12, 2025 | 2:30 - 4:30 PM (CET)
Room 21 – Agorà-U6 Building, Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano

Keynote speaker: Braxton Soderman, University of California Irvine
Discussant: Alan Mattiassi, Game Science Research Center

A seminar organized as part of the  course "Education and Play," Francesca Antonacci (Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Educational Sciences)

2 April 2025, 16:30 - 18:30
Aula 01c, U6 Building - Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1, Milano
Also online 

The seminar aims to offer an interdisciplinary dialogue between the Social Inclusion Lab of the Bocconi University of Milan and the Open-Air Lab of the Department of Human Sciences for Education “Riccardo Massa" of the University of Milan-Bicocca.

28 April 2025, 16:30 - 19:00 cest
Aula Martini, U6 building – Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo 1 – Milano

Public lecture by Judith Butler, american feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar.

29 April 2025, 16:30 - 19:00
Aula Seminari, U6 building - Piazza dell’Ateneo Nuovo, Milano

Meeting with filmmaker Erminia Colucci (Middlesex University, UK), visiting professor within the Project of Excellence with screening and discussion of the documentary «Harmoni: Healing Together» (2021).

11 Giugno 2025, ore 11:00 - 15:00
FrancoAngeli Academy, Viale dell’Innovazione 11 - Milano

Free workshop promoted by the Capted Next research group to explore places in the neighbourhood and reflect on how they contribute to the construction of our spatial identity.